Pinterest Inspired Rag Ball Ornaments

Welcome to our week of Pinterest!! Have you made anything this month with Pinterest as your source of inspiration? Be sure to stop back by on Thursday and link it up at our Pinterest Linky Party!!

I had made up my mind that, due to a crazy November and December, I was not going to make any new holiday decorations this year. Then I saw these and that was completely out the window. I am crazy over the colors, fabrics and textures, and already had some in my stash, so there was no reason not to start on this as soon as humanly possible.

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I pulled out my scrap stash and was thrilled that I had some neutral linen and white burlap already in thin strips. Perfect.

I grabbed some plastic ornaments in neutral colors, thinking that if the colors peeked out a but from underneath the scraps that it would be less noticeable than with green or red ornaments.

I wrapped a thin strip of fabric around each ball, layering them on top of on another and securing each end with hot glue. This was a really fast moving project since hot glue dries almost immediately.

As I worked I removed an ornament from the pedestal, covered it in fabric, and then put it back into the pedestal. I decided not to cover every ornament in the end because I like the mix of shabby chic rag balls and the glam of the glass ornaments. What do you think?

This project is so easy and a great way to dress up plain ornaments. What colors would you use?

Don't you just love Pinterest?! Me too! If you want to follow my boards, you can find me here.

Have a great week!!

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Evolution of a Dresser Top

Dresser tops around our home are ever changing.  So many possibilities and so much fun.

 

1.) You saw my girl's room in this post and it showed the dresser topped like this...

2.) This is what happened to the dresser when baby girl was a few weeks old...

3.) And just yesterday, I changed the dresser to look like this...

I just had to use some scrabble tiles.  I am sure the word will be changed frequently but for now "sisters" seemed perfect.  I could change it weekly with the current sight word my daughter is learning at school.  Hmmm...just thinking out loud.

I used a couple of the little birdies from one of my very first Lemon Tree projects you saw here.

My sister gave me this cool mirrored tray awhile back.  I finally got around to painting it white and it now holds my five-year-old's favorite pieces of jewelry and a fresh flower in a tiny vase.

I love it.  But I gotta be honest, my favorite was #2 (the one with the changing pad) because that represents a baby and I love me some babies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Tuesday!

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Hannah's Airy Vintage Nursery

I have been talking about my daughter's nursery for months now it seems. I didn't mean to drag it out, it's just that "Operation Nursery" came to a screeching halt once I was put on bed rest, and stayed there during the haze of the newborn phase. But now it is finished and I am so pleased.

Allow me to take you on a short tour.

The Room

My favorite thing about Hannah's room is that it gets the most beautiful soft light, and with the light gray walls it seems to glow. I didn't want to take away from that at all, so I splashed my color on the feature wall in this fun damask pattern, and left the others blank so that I could play with furniture, fabric and other decor.

The dresser was a flea market find, re-painted and gussied up with some new Hobby Lobby handles. I filled the frames with some of my favorite pictures of us with our new little lady. The lamp, tray, blocks and frames were thrift store finds, and the lampshade is from Target.

Hannah's crib and glider were a part of her brother's nursery. I was initially disappointed not to have white furniture because I just love that look in nurseries, so I decided that I would compensate by white playing a part in all of fabric in the bedding and the other details of the room. Now that the room is complete, I'm glad that the crib and glider have a maple finish. It adds large chunks of warmth to the color scheme and blends everything together nicely.

I wanted her room to be sprinkled with a few of her brother's things, since the toys now belong to "the kids" instead of just my son, But I also wanted a few things that were just for her. The stuffed animals, books, baskets and the well-loved wooden train that adorn the book shelf had each belonged to Jayce. But the art piece is just for her.

The Details

I was on a tight budget when pulling Hannah's room together, so most everything was found at a thrift store or made by me.

This little shelf display warms my heart!

I made the family blocks for my son about a year and a half ago and I thought it was such a fun little display of our family of 3! I was so pleased to make a coordinating block with a picture of our newest addition for an updated family display! I had used the "It's a Girl" bunting on her vintage inspired announcement, with a picture from the doctor's visit where we discovered her gender, so I was pleased to have that little trinket in her room as well. The photo on the shelf is her birth announcement. The three components together bring all sorts of memories to mind of the "before, during, and after" of my pregnancy and her addition to our family. Is that corny? Regardless, it's still what I think when I look at it. :)

I love this quote because we are constantly reading in our house. I used fabric as a mat since the frame was an unusual size, and printed the quote onto photo paper so that you wouldn't see the pattern through the paper. The bunting is made from fabric scraps that match her bedding.

I wanted Hannah's name displayed beside her bed, so I wrapped doilies around these chunky letters to add a bit of daintiness to them. I found a large frame that we cut down and re-sized so that it would frame her name perfectly. I love the wood of frame. It has beautiful details and is a lovely gold color, but was a bit a bit beat up. I really like the mix of it being both elegant and worn, so I did nothing to it other than re-size it.

The color scheme and inspiration for her room came from this puff quilt that I pieced together throughout my pregnancy.

I pulled a few of the fabrics from her quilt to use for her crib sheet and ruffled crib skirt. All of these were my first attempts at sewing anything even remotely complicated, so if you are a new sewer, you can do it! :) I was hesitant to make the crib bumpers myself because of the safety issues that can come with bumpers, so I had a custom set made for me from the talented Isla of IslaCorrine. The craftsmanship is beautiful, she was so sweet to work with, and I just love how it completes the crib! Perfect!

I made these hanging fabric doilies with the same fabric used in the quilt and other areas of the room. I strung them onto the frame from my son's old mobile for a colorful and sweet display.

I had extra quilt fabric that I had cut on the bias, so it was in perfectly long stretchy strips. I wrapped these strips around a few of the baskets on her shelves, and wove the longer strips around a basket that holds blankets beside the rocker. This added a nice pop of color to these baskets and pulled them into theme of the room.

The blocks are my husband, son and I's initials. I am on the lookout for a coordinating "h."

I made a few throw pillows with coordinating fabric for the glider. When we no longer need the glider in the nursery I plan to keep her quilt and these pillows in the same corner for a little reading nook. I won the owl bookend from a giveaway on KoJo Designs from the adorable Etsy shop I Sew Lucky.

I shared her My Girl inspired Nursery Subway Art on Lemon Tree last week. It is one of my favorite things in the room. Unless my little lady is in there.

Wouldn't you know that with all of the colorful elements in this room, Hannah's favorite thing to stare at is the white ceiling fan? Go figure. :)

What do you think? It was definitely a labor of love, and I'm so happy with it. :)

I'll be linking my nursery to some great parties this week, so stop by to say hi!

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Doormat Wall Art

I made these awesome wall hangings last year and they are one of the few decorations in my house that I have never gotten sick of or moved around. I saw the idea in Lowes Creative Solutions and obsessed over it until I could make them for myself. I shared them on my family blog at the time, but I've received so many compliments on them recently that I thought I'd share them here as well.

I started off with a few pieces of poplar board, 1 inch x 12 inches x 6 feet. I had them sawed in half, which left me with two 3 feet x 12 inch boards.

I sanded and stained the boards a dark walnut color,

lined the edges with painters tape, and covered the boards with this doormat that I picked up from Lowes. There were some places on the doormat where there was a little extra rubber attached to the design, so I cut this off first with an exact o knife so that the lines would all be crisp and clean.

I then spray painted 4 light coats of Valspar's Ivory through the doormat - 2 straight down on the mat and 2 from different angles to try to fill in all of the gaps.

I allowed the paint to dry for about 30 minutes after the last coat,

and when I pulled the mat off I literally squealed with delight.

I sealed the wood with a spray polyurethane and hung those babies up as fast as I could.

I used heavy duty sawtooth hangers on the back of the boards, and hung them on wall anchors spaced about 13 inches apart.

The wood shows through beautifully and the design looks so elegant on the wall. The only real problem is that I wanted to put them in every single room of the house-the neutral wood and ivory go with absolutely everything! It took a lot of deliberation before they finally landed in the living room, but I was glad to finally have something to fill the space above the TV, and luckily my mom was willing to hold to hold them up against different walls while I debated.

I'll be linking to these parties this week, so stop by to say hi!!

Have a great week!!

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Hanging Fabric Doilies

Since learning to sew a few months ago so I have been thrilled to enter the vast world of incredible fabric!! Among the many projects that I have taken on for my daughter and her nursery is a fun puff quilt, and I just loved squeezing as many tiny pieces of beautiful fabric together as possible on it. There was no need to restrain myself among the fabric gorgeousness, and I barely did! But after spending entirely too much time researching, shopping for and ordering fabric, I realized that I wanted a more permanent way to display the collection in her nursery than just the quilt.

So I came up with these Hanging Fabric Doilies. Aren't they sweet?!

Want to see the details? Read on!

I started off with 6 inch and 4 inch paper doilies. I cut off the lace edges and used the center circles as templates to cut out my fabric circles.

I mixed equal parts of fabric stiffener and water, brushed it onto the circles and let them air dry.

They dry a bit wrinkly, so I ironed them flat on a low heat setting, then folded them in half and ironed down the crease.

I took 2 doilies, folded those in half as well, and paper clipped them together so that they wouldn't shift while I was sewing them.

I slipped one of the creased and stiffened fabric circles under the paperclips on each side of the doilies.

I then sewed a straight stitch down the center of the doilies and fabric circles, using my creases as a guide, and left a 3 foot long string at one end.

Now I was really getting excited! I wanted my fabric circles to lay flat against the doilies, so I used a thin squiggle of hot glue to secure them in place.

I opened up the folded sides of the doilies and glued 2 coordinating fabric circles onto those as well.

You could leave the alternating sides blank, but since this is for a nursery I wanted alternating colors to best keep the baby's interest.

I made several fabric doilies in different sizes and pattern combinations, and hung them from the ceiling above the rocking chair.

I also made five of the 4 inch fabric doilies and strung them onto the frame from my son's old mobile.

It was the perfect way to spread the fabric around the room, add some pops of color, and still leave a light touch.

I just love the sweet detail on the doilies and the bursts of color are just too fun!

Curious about the fabrics?

-Ta Dot in Ocean can be found here.

-The Bloom and Grow Paisley, Bloom and Grow Geometric and Love Bird are by Riley Blake, which I purchased from this shop.

-The Yellow Matisse Flowers, Matisse Still Life, and Kitchen Blossoms were from this shop.

Hope you love these as much as I do!

I'm thrilled that these made Babble.com's list of best baby mobiles for 2012!! Check them out, among the other great mobiles here. Thanks Babble!

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